Fourth Generation Awards $60,000 in Grants

Funding will support six local groups that are working to address place-based disparities.

Written by Sarah Lemagie

Fourth Generation, a program of The Minneapolis Foundation
that brings together emerging philanthropists, awarded $60,000 in grants to six
local organizations working to address place-based disparities. Each
organization will receive $10,000.

Members of Fourth Generation work together to learn the
skills of strategic giving and pool their resources to make a much bigger
difference in the community than they could alone.

Every year, they vote to choose an issue, then work together
to research, fundraise and review proposals. The year culminates with the
selection of local nonprofits to receive grants. This year’s grantees are all
working to ensure that everyone who lives in our community—regardless of their
ZIP code or neighborhood—has the resources and opportunities they need to
thrive.

Here’s what this year’s grant recipients will do with their
Fourth Generation funding:

The Center
for Earth, Energy and Democracy will continue its work to ensure
that communities and policymakers have the tools and information to create
just, sustainable energy and environmental policy. Fourth Generation funding
will help CEED organize a core group of community activists through tailored
energy justice workshops and develop a base energy assessment of “Green Zone”
neighborhoods in Minneapolis that can be used to push for energy system
alternatives.

Dream
of Wild Health will continue its work to restore health and
well-being in the Native community by recovering knowledge of and access to
healthy Indigenous foods, medicines, and lifeways. The group serves many Native
American children in Minnesota, especially those in urban areas who lack access
to the kinds of food experiences that many children in rural areas grow up with.

Mapping
Prejudice will continue its work to create a visual, interactive map
of the racial covenants in Minneapolis. Minneapolis is the first city in the
country to produce such a map. Thousands of people have attended Mapping
Prejudice presentations at which they learn about the history of racial
covenants, redlining, and government and private-sector practices that have
contributed to housing segregation. In addition, they learn how to identify
racially explicit covenants in historical, primary-source data. Through this
interactive crowd-sourcing project, members of the public can contribute to
Mapping Prejudice’s data set by working on their own to identify racist
language in housing deeds.

The Native
American Community Clinic will create a medicine garden where it
will teach its Native clients how to plant, grow, and harvest traditional
medicines. Funds will support the purchase of plants, soil, and other supplies
for the garden, as well as an irrigation system, marketing, and a community
event. The clinic also has seeds that they will give to clients who wish to
plant their own gardens at home.

Seward
Redesign will start a Sharia-compliant lending and investment fund.
The Muslim community in Minnesota experiences faith-based restrictions to
accessing capital. This program, which will provide non-interest bearing loans,
will help local Muslim entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. Seward Redesign
will use its Fourth Generation grant to provide the initial four to eight
borrowers with one-on-one, culturally competent technical assistance in areas
such as accounting, marketing, and legal counsel. The grant will also support
program administration and evaluation.

WellShare
International will continue to help people in underserved
communities access the education and care they need to maintain and improve
their health. This work reduces the health disparities of populations
experiencing cultural, language, education, and income barriers. The program’s
community health workers are trained to provide culturally and linguistically
appropriate education and access to services.

Fourth Generation helps ensure that future generations have
the tools they need to carry on Minnesota’s tradition of generosity and make
positive change in the community. Over the last nine years, more than 350
members have donated and raised $417,000 to fund grants awarded to nonprofit
organizations working to address critical community issues such as affordable
housing, criminal justice reform, food justice, small business development, and
services for aging Minnesotans.